I'll be running this build in Ambush (I only play Softcore). Hopefully I can get to endgame content and farm enough money for a BoR/Block Duelist.

Update: Halfway through Act III Cruel atm, build is working great so far even with horrible gear. I've found that against tough mobs that can quickly kill your totems (or worse, AoE them down), it's a lot better to put your totems apart. It's the same thing as in League of Legends, putting the AP and AD Carries apart. :)

i've been playing this build for a while now and just got act 1 merciless down.
This is my first hardcore character i've ever played and with invasion bosses, it isnt easy.
Untill i started this build, i melt most things and totems are such a safe way to play.
Dont get cocky and totemwalk untill you find the invader would be my advice.
I just keep the boss in my corner en respam totems.
Atm i am lvl 59 and i got 680 dps on totems 2700 hp total and with purity heavily overcapped on resistance.
here is my gear

atm i'm just looking for more life on gear and higher resists, probably will need to upgrade my chest sometime (got it from Vaal cruel kill) my mana regen stands at 80/s

Why have u decided to take Eldrict battery allrdy at lvl 52.
i loose 890 Es, i know it goes to mana. but its my survivability that dissapears. and even though i got that more mana, i cannot sustain dicipline, clarity and AA. wich could give me survivability..
Have u thought about taking some nodes in Mana Reserved?

I for sure wont take eldrict before i get higher lvl, or way better items.. i can put 2 totems at a time, pop a mana pot and do so on and on.

Great guide, really enjoying the build. If it weren't for this guide, I would no longer be playing this game. The framerate in groups for me is unplayable. I'm self found and play solo 99% of the time. Even with poor gear, most content is possible. Quick skill tree question. In the witch section, just under Lord of the Dead, how does taking the last 4% cast speed and then the next two 16% spell damage nodes sound. Its only 3 points and not out of the way at all. How does %spell damage compare to % increased totem damage?
Thank you again for this wonderful guide....well done sir.

As it depends on few factors, you can test it on your own. Get a ~30-35% spell dmg wand and put it on/off, and compare it to a single point of totem dmg (then multiply by x2/x3 or whatever you feel like it).

And thanks for positive feedback, always appreciated. Glad it's working out for you pal.

Well I'm still like a month in to this game so I'm not experienced much but I'l try to give feedback. First of all, this is only my second char, my first one was a witch which failed badly. And this build, is really good IMO. Right now I'm level 71. I was able to solo pretty much everything. Until Dominus merc second form. But that was probably my fault because I didn't have chaos resistance so those miscreations just dominated me. But then after dying more than 10 times I found good positioning and eventually killed him. Maps so far are going good, not sure how long will I last with them. But if I was anymore experienced I bellieve everything would be a breeze with this build. And there's one thing, it's those witches in Ebony Barracks that are the worst, they just arc few times and suddenly your totems are gone, so they are really bad. Also cold damage is also bad. But still this build is awesome, and I'd like to thank you for putting so much time in to making this build. Here's my gear just in case:

Like I said in guide, Barracks/battlefront is nasty. That's called lightning thors, it reflect X ammount of dmg per attack, and as totems attack super fast... they die to it super fast as well. You can use searing bond to ofset that if it's somewhat annoying for you to deal with, for me... not so much I just tend to target witches first and have enough mana for totem spamming. :) Cold dammage is... so so, for me it wasn't a big problem. :)

Since in ambush, important thing. Max out your resistances... get high-ish life. 3k+ is recommended, 4k or close at 75+ I'd say. And you'll need to learn enemy types, and especially bosses in maps and how to deal with them, or which bosses and map combos to avoid. Since more dmg is fun, I'd suggest getting a cheap 5L (for 4-5) chaos and alt/chaos/alch etc. it to be somewhat useful, and it'll add hefty ammount of dmg. Also consider Deodre's ring, or that Three Dragons (with static blows) helm afterwards for obscene ammounts of dmg. It'll come with time. Still this is a good build for learing the ins and outs of the game, and making currency as it can MF so easily. If you got any questions, ask away. ;)

Been using this on 4 chars so far, three of which were Templars (all RIP'd in the end lol) and I must say it's a really fun and noob friendly build. They all died to Invaders or user-error (Bleed + Quicksilver = bad idea) but that's PoE all right. Last one made it all the way to Act 2 Merciless at level 58 or 59. The end came when I decided to go back to Act 1 and clear out Fetid Pool without being capped in any resistances. Kamaq, Soilmaker was kind enough to surprise me with free hugs and bolts of kindness...

I was getting tired of rolling another man-skirt but as I liked this build so much, I decided my 5th character was going to be a Witch. So far I've made it a bit further than where my highest achieving Templar died except this time I bought a couple of resist rings from poexyz as soon as I got to Act 1 Merciless and stayed farming Ledge until the XP penalty.

My current gear so far:

Spoiler

I just dinged 61 and I'm starting to finish the core of the skill tree. After this point it's all about choosing where to go for an end-game build and I'm having trouble deciding which path I should take.

This is my core Witch adaptation of your build. (Feel free to add it in your OP if you want)

Now I'm either going to choose branching into Marauder or Shadow. They're both very survivability oriented but whereas they both focus on life, the Marauder path also grants better totem survival, resistances and armour while Shadow offers more mana, regen (better AA) and some damage output. It also has a 30+ Dex node nearby which could allow for a higher level AA.

So yeah, I appreciate any insight on where to go next. It would be my first time reaching maps (or even Act 3 Merciless...) but I'm getting tired of learning things the hard way so any tips beforehand are more than welcome.

Just for information: Bleed. It's not like you take more damage from bleeding when you go faster, you take more damage if you don't stay still. I would say that Bleed + Quicksilver is good idea if you absolutely need to reposition yourself, better get staunching flask though.

I'll be running this build in Ambush (I only play Softcore). Hopefully I can get to endgame content and farm enough money for a BoR/Block Duelist.

Update: Halfway through Act III Cruel atm, build is working great so far even with horrible gear. I've found that against tough mobs that can quickly kill your totems (or worse, AoE them down), it's a lot better to put your totems apart. It's the same thing as in League of Legends, putting the AP and AD Carries apart. :)

Yes, totem positioning is very important, hopefully I'll soon make a vid about the build in general where I'll discuss that amongst other things. Glad it's working out with crappy gear. Yeah I'm thinking about making a invasion proof melee build, or one that alows me enough time to log-out in almost all situations... and I really hate BoR (that and searing are only two flavor thingies I hated since I joined, just cause XD ) only thing left is to work out my offensive side, as melee builds that are defensive minded are crappy in terms of dmg. Prolly something like el. aura spec throw, but that's not melee. XD Or just 150+ melee dmg, will see. :) Also both duelist, scion and ranger are good option for block builds.

i've been playing this build for a while now and just got act 1 merciless down.
This is my first hardcore character i've ever played and with invasion bosses, it isnt easy.
Untill i started this build, i melt most things and totems are such a safe way to play.
Dont get cocky and totemwalk untill you find the invader would be my advice.
I just keep the boss in my corner en respam totems.
Atm i am lvl 59 and i got 680 dps on totems 2700 hp total and with purity heavily overcapped on resistance.
here is my gear

Spoiler

atm i'm just looking for more life on gear and higher resists, probably will need to upgrade my chest sometime (got it from Vaal cruel kill) my mana regen stands at 80/s

Yeah Invasion can be very nasty, so... take your time and grind a bit if you need. :)
Grats on progress, keep us updated.
Have fun,
GoranH.

Why have u decided to take Eldrict battery allrdy at lvl 52.
i loose 890 Es, i know it goes to mana. but its my survivability that dissapears. and even though i got that more mana, i cannot sustain dicipline, clarity and AA. wich could give me survivability..
Have u thought about taking some nodes in Mana Reserved?

I for sure wont take eldrict before i get higher lvl, or way better items.. i can put 2 totems at a time, pop a mana pot and do so on and on.

Hope to get a respond.!.

That ES as said is the first line of defense, you need high mana regen on tree, some from gear and high lvl clarity to sustain it. Also Clarity and Discipline (preferably lvl 15+) should be linked to reduced mana of similar lvl to make it work. It's a good choice IF you got HP ammount I suggested in guide, or one that was close to what I had at that act/difficulty. You can always go MoM route for similar approach. I personally went Cloak of Defiance route. Haven't played at all so I'm still at lvl 73, but got 4.3k HP and 1.2k unreserved mana (just clarity is enough for my AA now), which is effective 5.5k hp, and that can go to like 7k or more without too much trouble.

Mana reserved nodes are a no go, except for maybe Influence, as we won't run many aura's, and we need mana reserved if we go MoM/cloak route. If not, then you could go, as long as you got high mana regen and enough for two consecutive totem casts. Like I can run no problem Purity of El. with my setup if I need to, or even two purities, but then no mana. Discipline (high lvl) is only addition I'd do besides clarity.

Act 3 merciless is hard, last act in game. So I said in guide you need to try to gear yourself in a1m, but that's hc leagues. Anyhow... cap your res, up your chaos res to ~30% or more if you can. Get for a3m 3.5k HP, and get that mana regen going for totems and AA, you shouldn't have any problems.

You can link me your stats (HP/mana /mana regen/resistances and you gear) and I'll help ya. I doubt you failed. ;) Maybe a small fix is needed. And again, this build relies heavily on users staying out of danger, so you're not supposed to be near enemies, and cast your totems as far ahead as you can. heh

But one from main page. :) Your options are decent as well. ;) And as for shadow, from my main shadow tree I can always go mental acuity and 20% mana regen as well, and get fire dmg etc. heh All good. I like that 16% chaos and life/mana combo nodes though.

Thx..
But even thouh u go The MoM way, or u got cloak of efiance, u still need the mana either way. to sustain it..
So mkana reserved nodes would always be good.
but ye ur also lvl 73. im 59, theres ome way to go, and some better items, and more mana. ill get there..